Mark Twain once said, “California may branch out and be come a great silk manufacturing state some day, when it becomes known that her facilities for doing so are much superior to those of most other lands. A silkworm ranch is one of the few kinds of property in this world that never fail to pay. Let Californians make a note of it, and act upon it.” Thirty years ago Otto Feldman did just that, and built a small silk mill down by the river. Come and join a tour of Jim Lucas’ and my latest creation, Coastal Textiles - Exporters of Silk Fabrics and Eggs, (a South River Modelworks Sayles Mill kitbash).

Up on the highest ground sits the main mill.

This structure was modified in several ways. The side walls were reversed, the tower was removed to westernize the structure and the rooftop wall/window detail was replaced with the one intended for the powerhouse. Awnings were also added to both the front and rear loading docks.

The old small structure (too good of a Bob VG design to change) sits lower, downstream, connected to the mill by an open breezeway which is more suited for this western location than the enclosed style.

This breezeway connects to differing floors to compensate for the elevation change.

The powerhouse was also located downstream, off the backside of the main mill. The roofline was modified to a flat top tar and gravel type, a style more typical out west. The windows were bricked up (using Downtown Deco brick sheets). I really like the way this one turned out and will need to keep an open mind to other large windowed brick structures that look to “New England” to use.

The shaded courtyard area between these buildings is one of the workers favorite places to work. It’s a short walk under the breezeway to the river, or you can take the set of stairs up to the mill loading dock.

The track was moved to the back of the mill, resulting in more room for the coal bins.

This change also made the front of the mill more visible. A dam was built on the river to provide water to the main mill turbines. You can see the gate upstream from the dam, as well as the downstream outflow pipes and overflow channel.

Just across the bridge and slightly down hill is the single story silkworm and egg farm/operations. (This is an addition to the standard kit, created by making a duplicate of the top floor of the mill with the kit provided mill roof window detail placed on top. Mirroring the main mill design at opposed directions created a very nice visual effect.)

The worm and egg operations are always active, especially on mornings like these. Last night there was another breakout, with a good number of worm escapees. A hundred or so hungry lizards crossing the road gave the worms away. A couple of workers are now in the field and up a tree collecting the runaways.

There is quite a bit of activity downstream these days, where Osolinski Construction has the contract to repair the damaged riverbank, washed out by that late spring flood. It’s early but the old steam shovel, the “Karl O.” is already moving rocks. (This is one of those wonderful Jordan shovels, built by Karl Osolinski.)

Those high school kids kept driving in at night to party downstream and create construction mischief, so Karl set up a temporary gate with guard shack.

A short walk down the steps to the river, you will find a small boat dock, a perfect place to fish and enjoy the afternoon. This would really be peaceful, if that old shovel wasn’t so darn loud.

Coastal Textiles was a fun build and exercise in modifying/westernizing another South River Modelworks kit. Jim and I hope you enjoy the resultant diorama as much as we do.

Gregg

Additional photos of the layout and various structure builds can also be found in the threads listed below.

Gregg, you and Jim just keep producing great scenes. Can't wait to see it incorporated in the layout. I love how you always seem to make even a great kit work better for your application. If you have time some day I would love to hear about the process of how you decide to make these changes. I realize most are because of the western theme, but how do you fit them together? Thanks Pat